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Issue 0: Friday 18th April, 2025

What I’m Reading: Mordew by Alex Pheby

This is the first book in Pheby’s Cities of the Weft trilogy – but if you’re traumatised by fantasy authors not finishing things, don’t worry. The final instalment, Waterblack, came out this year.

Premise: God is dead. His corpse is buried beneath the city of Mordew and the Master feeds upon it for his magic. A boy, Nathan Treeves, is showing signs of a different power – the spark – though he doesn’t understand it. His more immediate concern is the slum in which he lives, threatening always to be swallowed by the waves that beat against the sea wall, or to be incinerated by the giant firebirds, sent by the Mistress.

Points of interest: This is a fantasy novel, but unlike any other fantasy novel I’ve read. If you’ll forgive the snobbery – because it’s more ‘literary.’ What normally passes for literariness in fantasy is an overworked, vaguely gothic style. But what stands out about Mordew is Pheby’s control on the line level – there’s the restraint of a distinctly British realism, and I mean that in a very good way. 

This makes sense since Pheby’s background is in literary fiction. His previous novel, Lucia, has been hailed as the best literary representation of schizophrenia (it is about Joyce’s daughter). 

The depth of Mordew’s world building is also tremendous. There’s a one-hundred page glossary at the back of the book which describes a magic system with the rigour of a philosophical theory. 

You can read a free excerpt on the Galley Beggar website here: https://www.galleybeggar.co.uk/extract-mordew

What I’m Writing: An essay on The Great Gatsby Centennial 

I’m astounded by the sheer number of adaptations and appropriations of Gatsby that have been made – films, more films, musicals, more musicals, economic effects, and even a sandwich. I’m exploring what this means for our relationship to the text – and what over saturation means for our relationships to concepts generally. 

New Release: Who Wants to Live Forever by Hannah Thomas Uose

Premise: A Bryan Johnson like figure invents a drug – Yareta – which effectively cures mortality. Sam decides to take it – and his wife, Yuki, does not. This is a profound (and terrifying) meditation on a world where ageing has become merely a problem of the poor. 

(I’ve started this already and I’m loving it. Aside from a great concept, it’s beautiful at the line level and formally impressive – Uose performs some nimble time jumping, uniquely appropriate to a world where people can live to 300.) 

Book News: Suffolk museum discovers human-skin-bound book

The skin comes from famous Georgian-era murderer William Corder – and the book contains information about his trial and crimes. Bizarrely, this is the second book made out of his skin – the first has been on display in the museum since 1933, but the curators discovered mention of this one in a catalogue and found it sitting on a bookshelf in one of their offices. 

Anyway, binding a book in human skin is called ‘anthropodermic bibliopegy,’ in case that ever comes up in conversation. Apparently, it was a common practice for punishing criminals in the 1800s. 

Question I’m thinking about: How many people actually enjoy using the internet? Or, where is the line between dopaminergic compulsion and true enjoyment?

Until next week!

Blake